C704

"Ladies, we mean no harm here. This Valkyrie didn't collapse because of Saber. Lower your weapons, after all those spears won't provide any real safety if things get violent," he stated calmly.

The twin-tailed Valkyrie hesitated briefly before putting down her spear.

Seeing her stand down, the other Valkyries followed suit, lowering their own weapons.

As expected, this twin-tailed Valkyrie seemed to be the current leader of the group. He studied her closely.

Just then, a few other Valkyries raised their hands to their temples, ready to access the Network like robots.

Seeing this, he clicked his tongue in dismay and yelled urgently: "Don't connect to the network...!"

But it was too late. Some of the faster Valkyries had already linked up. The moment they did, the light left their eyes, their souls seeming to vanish as their bodies went limp and toppled over with a heavy "thud."

He reacted quickly, unleashing black mud that formed into cushions to catch the falling Valkyries.

"W-what happened? Why can't my sisters move? beep Valkyrie C-11475 is very worried," the green twin-tail said, though her expression remained utterly aloof.

Shirou tried giving the lifeless Valkyries skills like Battle Continuation, but as expected, it was useless.

Just as he thought...

"You and your sisters showed poor efficiency here, as did Skadi," he said. "In my empire, even without convenient tools like your Network, we'd have begun countering potential threats much quicker."

Shirou faced the few surviving Valkyries—the green twin-tail and red single-tail—and said earnestly, "Don't connect to your Valkyrie Network. It's been infected with viruses!"

"Infected?" Salter asked in confusion. "How could that happen? With their divine cores, mere viruses shouldn't be able to incapacitate them."

"Not normal viruses," he replied, setting the unconscious Valkyries down. Turning to Salter, he went on: "You were in the 4th Holy Grail War, right?"

She nodded.

"A big thing nowadays is that everything's connected through networks. But that means hackers can attack those networks with viruses," he explained. "Looks like the Valkyries share some kind of mental network. And it's been hacked."

Hearing this, Salter looked at him incredulously. "That can't be..."

But Shirou knew the most crucial thing was that the 'spy problem' within the Valkyrie Network had revealed itself.

Back at the Jotunheimr Gate, he had sensed a problem and warned Thrud and Ortlinde. But since Ortlinde hadn't taken action, she must not have believed him. Or maybe Skadi capturing him caused enough chaos that they couldn't respond right away.

And this oversight had given infiltrators an opening – with Sigurd being just one example.

Stroking his chin, Shirou glanced at the two Valkyries who'd avoided trouble by disconnecting quickly.

After thinking it over, he turned to them with a warning: "Don't log back into your network."

The green twin-tail tilted her head, puzzled. "?"

Sometimes they seemed to possess their own wills, other times they were like soulless homunculi devoid of sapience, behaving purely like AIs.

"Stay in Valhalla. We'll handle the infiltrators." He assured the duo.

Salter stared at him, baffled. Hadn't he insisted they should focus on escaping Asgard? That he didn't want to get involved? Why the sudden change of heart?

Before she could ponder further, Shirou was already heading for the exit. Salter hurried after him.

"A strange man. Assessment complete." the green twin-tail said hollowly.

"What should we do? Beep. Valkyrie B-224 asks her dear sister fearfully."

"Can't access records without the network. Unable to search records for precedent. Personal conclusion - do as he says. Beep. Valkyrie C-11475 answers."

The red single-tail nodded.

As the green twin-tail walked forward, she suddenly felt a hand clutching her outfit's hem from behind. Looking back, she saw it belonged to the red Valkyrie, as expected.

The green twin-tail gave her a hug. "Don't be scared, I'm here with you. Beep. Valkyrie C-11475 comforts her frightened sibling."

"I'm not actually scared. And I already told you, I'm not your sister! Beep. Valkyrie B-224 is somewhat reassured but unwilling to admit defeat."

...

Shirou strode quickly toward Valhalla's door.

Salter hurried to catch up. "Wasn't escaping Asgard our top priority?"

"I said that?" He looked at her in surprise.

She nodded, taking out a notebook. "I wrote it down."

"You record random stuff I say...are you Guinevere?" Shirou deadpanned.

"Guinevere? Isn't that your other name in your Camelot?" She was puzzled.

"Forget it. You can erase that part - I was just rambling." He said dismissively.

"But that's going back on your word! A king shouldn't be so fickle!"

"Do you see me as king now?"

That silenced Salter.

As they exited Valhalla, he was taken aback by the sight before them.

The snow-cloaked land were gone. Scattered across the ground were countless unconscious Valkyries.

Once a sacred land blessed by gods, Asgard was now overrun with hordes of grotesque, hideous monsters trampling everything in their path.

Divine gardens and godly ruins lay defiled and ravaged by the repulsive creatures.

"Boom! Boom!" The echoes of collapse resounded as temple after temple crumbled under the endless stampede.

It was as if the very faith and divinity of the gods had been desecrated, then shattered into oblivion.

It was like demons invading heaven - defiling the divine realm of the gods.

The only ones capable of facing the patchwork giants - the Valkyries - lay paralyzed and lifeless on the ground.

For now, Shirou ignored the giants. He carried the unconscious Valkyries to safety, inspecting a couple as he did. They matched the state of the ones in Valhalla. Having linked to the corrupted Valkyrie Network, they had surely also lost consciousness from whatever viruses now infested it.

Though the alluring forms of the unconscious Valkyries might have stirred up a mental debate between carnal desires and conscience in any hot-blooded man, Shirou remained stoic, calmly gathering information.

The Norse pantheon's bounded fields - designed to seal out invaders - were clearly active, judging by the oppressive pressure Shirou felt. Yet clear signs of destruction scarred Asgard's surface.

And not just normal damage - these were gigantic ruptures that could only have been made by colossal beasts.

A piercing cry split the air as an enormous golden eagle streaked overhead, furious gales whipping in its wake. It smashed into the roaming patchwork creatures below.

"That's..."

Shirou raised a brow. "Probably the mythic Eyes of the Gods - Hræsvelgr."

Even though he said he would handle the invaders, he held back from fighting the giants - his position here was too ambiguous to risk that. As always, his goal was to return to Chaldea, the closest thing he had to a home.

Using his Clairvoyance EX, he observed the area around the Great Temple.

Hordes of twisted giants surrounded it, battering the structure. Fortunately, the temple glowed with dazzling golden light from Primordial Runes, warding off the creatures' assaults.

Stroking his chin, Shirou turned to Salter. "Let me answer what you asked earlier."

She gazed at him quizzically.

"I said before that even after we help Skadi, she might still be hostile since it's pretty common for people to betray others even after receiving help," said Shirou. "But giving her some flowers would still be better than sending useless stuff like charcoal in a snowstorm."

"So you want to help Asgard?" Salter asked bluntly, her ruthless Alter persona preferring direct choices - to fight or not to fight.

"Of course we'll help eventually, but not yet. Things need to get worse, on the edge of collapse even, before we step in. That way our help will seem more sincere. Remember how they spurned us before..." He trailed off, glancing at Salter scribbling furiously.

"Don't mind me, go on."

He sighed, exasperated. This lass was becoming less like Arthur and more like Guinevere - recording his every word as if collecting scandalous secrets.

He shook his head and walked away. She followed, asking "Aren't you going to help Skadi?"

"Not yet. We'll talk after she's defeated."

Still following, she pressed, "But didn't you say Skadi was powerful?"

"That power probably has some limits or restrictions. If it didn't, why wouldn't Skadi have attacked already? And if those invaders were able to defeat the Valkyries, they must have ways to fight against Skadi's powers as well. Also..."

He rapped her head. "Try thinking for yourself instead of asking me so much! I feel like I'm babysitting kids in Cornwall."

"But...you're smarter than me," she muttered, rubbing her head.

Shirou: "..."

...

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